WHAT IS SEDITION

What is sedition?

Sedition according to the dictionary is conduct or speech inciting rebellion against authority of a State or monarch.But different people interpret this is different ways depending on their perception and convenience. It also depends on who said what and when. It is quite clear that Kanhaiya Kumar is guilty of sedition. He and other students of the JNU who indulged in sloganeering –praising Afzal Guru were inciting rebellion. Otherwise why were they shouting slogans-for the love of the country? Now we have many learned professors and even jurists coming to his rescue. One explanation is that he did not shout slogans. But that he was present. One’s presence is abetting the whole motive of the gathering. Why had the JNU students gathered and how can one absolve Kanhaiya Kumar of sedition because if he had not shouted the slogans how did he allow it. How did he allow outsiders within the campus? He as the president of the students union is solely responsible for what happened and is accountable for the outsiders’ presence. Surely without his knowledge they would not be there. When one cites inciting it means that person through speech and slogans fires rebellion. It need not be immediate but builds tension and hatred for the authority-here the government. Abetting this was Rahul Gandhi and Kejriwal.These two by their very presence had certainly vouched what the students-be they outsiders or insiders, stood for-gathered for and sloganeering for. One such slogan is ‘break India’ is that love for the country, is there no violence embedded-It is like a bugle call given by Kanhaiya Kumar and his supporters.

The praising of Afzal Guru –the terrorist who targeted Parliament is not something to be overlooked. In this I am shocked that eminent jurists and professors seem to tone down and give it an entirely different version. Rahul Gandhi must remember that Afzal Guru was sentence to hanging during the tenure when his mother was the extra constitutional power center. By condemning the hanging of Afzal Guru the outsiders or/and JNU students are condemning our judiciary. Whatever it be, the JNU students were part of the whole event-and Kanhaiya Kumar is answerable as he is the student Union President. Today the security guards and others can give another version-because they have to live with these students…They are to be believed by the advocates of the JNU students but not other versions. Whatever suits their cause is to be believed. It is really saddening to note that professors are supporting the activities of the students. It is a well know fact that JNU has been known for sheltering, nurturing Communists and Maoists. These two are no more in China but very much present in the Indian soil-and in JNU.What are their aims? Breaking India, Destabilizing, creating unrest dividing the nation, communalizing and finally overthrowing the government- towards this most of the foreign funds flow. I sincerely wish that the Government of India bans the flow of foreign funds. This can stop all anti-government activities and cut at the roots of proselytization

Day after day the Indian Express carries articles on these activities of the JNU by their own professors and others. Giving them a clean chit and trying to convince the readers how sincere they are, how studious they are, and how nationalistic they are. Even now the Indian Express continues to fill its editorial pages have given space in the Letters to the Editor column. Will it publish a dissenting article or letter?So much for Freedom of Speech. So all this is towards what…

It made strange reading to find that Kapil Sibal the advocate for Kanhaiya Kumar argued in the Court that ‘the offence of sedition could not be made out as the alleged sloganeering occurred inside a university campus and not a public place”. He continued “How can something happening inside a university campus between two factions incite people outside to create law and order situation”. This is a strange argument given by a senior advocate. Sedition can be hatched and incitement against authority can triggered any where-even within a closed room or a university campus. Surely if it happens within a university campus it has its larger implications. It spreads like ripples outside. For that matter has the media not brought it into the public domain? Is the print media not screaming how the Freedom of Speech is being suppressed? I do not for a moment hesitate to vehemently state that there is no country in the world which is so tolerant and gives Freedom of Expression. Will any country tolerate its PM being labeled ‘psychopath’,called a devil? We had RG foot in the mouth utterances that Modi’s 57 inches will be reduced to 54 inches in Parliament. Has there been any condemnation. Did the BJP go on a rampage? What if under Freedom of speech I call Sonia Gandhi a self server- one who has come to India with the sole purpose of destroying it after having garnered all its treasures. And use abusive tirades against her. I would have been asked to apologize to the nation. Because Congress thinks that India is the fiefdom of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Firstly I will not stoop to such low level trash. Secondly it is not becoming of any one with a minimum amount of decency. So public figures like Rahul Gandhi should uphold probity in public life-same goes for Kejriwal and Mamta.There is decorum to be maintained. Tolerance is the hall mark of Indian culture. This does not give unbridled license to utter what one likes-to be abusive and to degrade one’s country-the nation and its elected leader this-this not the spirit of Freedom of Speech enshrined in the Constitution.

Reverting back to JNU affair-Are the taxpayers not concerned about how their money is being spent? Of course there was an article stating that to have freedom of speech the taxpayer must pay. This again is an absurd explanation. The taxpayers’ hard earned money is not to be spend on students becoming activitists instead of actively concentrating in their subjects, instead of aiming at completing their courses at the earliest- they hang on-simply because they and their parents do not feel the pinch in their pockets. Hence they continue within the campus paying a meager 11 rupees as room rent and get outsiders also to enjoy their largess.

Coming to Rahul Gandhi and Kejriwal it is certainly to incite the students and to support their anti-Establishment (read Modi’s government) stand that they made their presence in the campus. So they are abettors in sedition. One cannot brush aside on the plea that as students they are filled with fervor and need not be taken to task. The students are not illiterate or semi literate. They are fully aware of what they are doing. In fact Kanhaiya kumar canvassed for the CPI in the last election in Bihar. So he is political oriented. But being political oriented is not to be faulted. But to use the University campus and his position to further his political ideology is wrong and worse if it is done at the taxpayers’ money. The core argument for the JNU students lies in the Right to Freedom of Expression. I do not think Rights are immutable and absolute. If that is so how does one explain Minority Rights where there is no equality with others but a differential treatment on the basis of religion?